Plot

The episode begins with Darwin getting ready for school. He draws a watch and gasps in alarm. Darwin runs up to Gumball, trying to wake him up, and telling him that they will be late for school. Gumball finally becomes wide awake after he sees the school bus leave, and is alarmed when Darwin reminds him that Miss Simian said she will expel them if they arrive late again. After Gumball immediately gets dressed, he questions the amount of time they have left for school, and an onscreen timer (that the duo can see) appears. It gives them 6 minutes and 24 seconds. They tiptoe out of there room and into the hallway. They look up to see that the timer had followed them. As they race against time, the timer continues to follow them (much to their initial puzzlement).

After five seconds of running, Gumball and Darwin decide to take the public bus to school. On the bus, Gumball inadvertently attracts the attention of the passengers when he gets scared by Kayvon. Following a conversation with Alison, Gumball and Darwin learn that the bus is going to another destination – Richwood. They decide to jump off the bus, and they end up being pushed off the side of a bridge, landing on another vehicle which causes them to be taken to a pile of junk in the desert. The duo then argue about whose idea it was to jump off the bus. Gumball then asks why it only took 4 seconds to get out here in the desert. As if the timer had a mind of it's own, it knocks one minute of it (which he blames Darwin for). Gumball questions why it only took off 1 minutes and not a few hours. Darwin then realizes that the timer knocked off 1 minute, it would take 1 minute to get there, meaning it would only take 1 minutes to get back to Elmore. They both quietly walk out of the junk pile and walk away with 2 minutes left.

By taking advantage of the timer, they manage to get back to town with a minute to spare. Gumball and Darwin continue their journey to school, with Gumball doing parkour (which he thinks will make them faster). On their way, they encounter Miss Simian. Eager to expel them, she outraces them with her car. Just as she drives off, Gumball accidentally stops time by crashing into the camera, and freezing the whole universe except for himself and Darwin.

At ease now that they do not have to worry about the time, they begin making fun of the other frozen citizens and taking advantage of their motionless surroundings. It is only when Gumball and Darwin discover that they cannot use electricity (and thus the internet, TV, or video game consoles) that they decide to get back to school and resume the timer.

Once in their classroom, Darwin continues the timer, but unintentionally spins it to the far future (when the sun explodes). After Gumball tries to go back in time, he sends himself and Darwin to the beginning of the universe. Again, they go forward in time and stop on prehistoric Earth. After accidentally meddling with an ape standing upright they find themselves in the present, but because of their meddling in the past they end up in an alternate timeline where there are no hands.

The duo try to prevent themselves from meddling with the monkey, and instead this results in many clones of them emerging. While the clones fight, a pair of the duo goes back to the present but finds their classmates as evolved versions of themselves. Back in the past, the original pair successfully stop their clones from fighting, and make them disappear after pointing out that they are all time paradoxes. In the present, they end up in an alternate timeline again, this time where they are to be sacrificed.

Gumball and Darwin try many attempts to fix the present, with these attempts resulting in many varied timelines. At last, they find a timeline where all seems normal, except that they now blink vertically. The episode ends with them deciding that they can live with the change.

Trivia

It is revealed in this episode that Darwin can draw his own face during his morning routine.

Throughout this episode, Gumball and Darwin repeatedly break the fourth wall.

Gumball and Darwin interacting with the timer on the screen is one example.

Another is when Gumball and Darwin notice how they go through great distances in only a matter of minutes or even seconds whenever the scene cuts to another.

Gumball breaks the fourth wall when he smashes into the camera, and stops time.

One of the alternate timelines has the characters talking angrily in German. This may be a timeline where the Axis won World War II and annexed the United States.

In that timeline, Sarah and Tobias' German dialogue translate to "I like to go to the disco!" and "No speed limit on the highway!" respectively; these were probably random phrases that were not supposed to mean anything of importance.

It is revealed in this episode that Darwin loves Mexican food because he says it rocks.

The Big Bang theory is referenced when Gumball and Darwin travel back in time.

The shrines built in honor of Gumball and Darwin resemble El Castillo, a Mesoamerican pyramid built by the Maya peoples.

Miss Simian announcing a sacrifice is a reference to the old Mayan tradition of human sacrifices.

When Gumball asks Darwin how bad it would be if they got expelled from school, Darwin lists the worse case scenario, involving the possibility of them living in the sewers, eating toxic waste and mutating, referencing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.

Gumball and Darwin freezing time is similar to the ending of The Twilight Zone episode "A Kind of a Stopwatch," where the central character of the episode drops a stopwatch that can freeze time, leaving everything but himself frozen.

The clam juice and tomato drink the Crocodile Woman was drinking is similar to Mott's Clamato drink.

During one of the alternate timelines Gumball and Darwin traveled to everybody preformed an act the same as the Aliens from the Alien franchise.

Goofs/Errors

This is the second time Penny is seen with her shell while riding the bus. The first time was in "The Mirror."

When running to the public bus stop, Gumball and Darwin pass the same green house twice.

Despite being at school, Juke can be seen playing with a basketball across from Gumball and Darwin when time is frozen. A similar problem is with Gary, who was riding a bus to Richwood, but he can be seen watching Sal Left Thumb steal Hexagon Lady's purse.

Also, the Librarian can be seen riding a bus to Richwood, even though she should be working in Elmore Junior High. It's possible that she didn't have to work that day, however.

When Gumball and Darwin are jumping and saying, "Yay! We still have one minute left to get to school!", Darwin's mouth stays open and doesn't move.

Miss Simian does not have the authority to expel Gumball and Darwin.

Towards the end of the episode, when the countdown reaches 7:13:00, the next increment should be 7:12:59, however the 13 never changes, resulting in the timer going back up to 7:13:59.

When Gumball opens the bus door, the doors slide outwards, but when the camera angle changes to show the view from the inside of the bus, the doors appear to have slid inwards.

[Darwin carries Gumball to the window, where they see the school bus leave. They both scream, and Gumball becomes wide-awake.]

Gumball: Alright! What we need is a good excuse. We need something embarrassing that Miss Simian totally wouldn't want to know about like "sorry, Miss. It's because Darwin made a bad taco, and, well…" [Acts like he has a bad stomach, then acts like he is puking.]

Darwin: First of all, don't diss Mexican food 'cause it rocks. Secondly, that looked like "Darwin ate a taco, played a sad song on a keytar, his head exploded, and then he fired lasers out of his fingers".

Gumball: That would be a good excuse, though.

Darwin: No. Don't you remember what Simian said?

[Flashback. Back at class, Miss Simian talks to the two.]

Lucy Simian: …and if you turn up late again, I will have no choice but to… [Becomes muffled]

Gumball (present): No. All I remember is that I never noticed before how the top of her head looks like Mount Fuji.

[The flashback ends.]

Darwin: She said [Acts like Miss Simian] "If you turn up late again, I'll have no choice but to expel you both!"

Gumball: EXPEL!?

[Gumball transforms into his outdoor clothes, Wonder Woman-style.]

Gumball: Right. How long have we got?

[An omnipresent counter appears above them, starting a countdown to zero from six minutes and two seconds. Gumball and Darwin are surprised by the timer.]

Gumball: Uh…okay. Thanks?

[They walk away, out of their bedroom. Outside though, they find the counter again and scream.]

Gumball: This is really weird. I think we should try and figure out what's causing it.

Darwin: Well, I think we should run before we get expelled.

Gumball: Let's compromise.

Racing Against Time

[The scene shifts to them running across Elmore town, all the while keeping their eyes on the timer. The timer is unaffected by the transition of the scene. By now, Gumball has zipped and buttoned up his outdoor pants and has fastened up his outdoor belt.]

Darwin: I can't keep going like this forever. We've been running for hours!

Gumball: Well, you've gotta be kidding. We've been running for five seconds.

Darwin: Nah, it just feels longer when you look at the clock.

Gumball: Okay, okay. Stop. We're not gonna make it on time.

[They stop at a bus stop.]

Gumball: I really don't want to say this, but there's only one solution left: we're gonna have to get... the public bus.

Gumball: Dude, he has to. He's supposed to look at the road. The other ones, you have to worry about.

[He indicates the passengers. Gumball and Darwin nod at each other, and while walking to find a seat, they try to intimidate the indifferent passengers. As Gumball passes by, Gary coughs.]

Gumball: WHAT!?

Gary: [Cups a hand to an ear] What?

Gumball: What?

Gary: What?

Gumball: No. What, as in like whaaa?

Gary: What?

Alison: Sh!

Gumball: What!?

[Gumball sees the Crocodile Woman with a bottle of juice.]

Gumball: Oh, uh–

[Gumball grabs the bottle and drinks its contents. In reaction to the juice, he shivers and almost gags.]

Gumball: [Disgusted] What is this?

Alison: Clam juice and tomato.

[Gumball refills the bottle with the juice he consumed and gives it back to the old citizen. He and Darwin continue looking for a seat, with Gumball making an "I'm keeping an eye on you" motion to the Crocodile Woman. At the back of the bus, a baby apple accidentally hits Gumball with his rattle. This scares Gumball and makes him pull out all his money and take off his shirt.]

[The baby apple laughs, and Gumball sees all the passengers staring at him.]

Gumball: I'm sorry, everyone. Sorry. My brother had some very suburban preconceptions about what the city bus was like, and he behaved like a complete dipstick.

[Darwin hits Gumball.]

Gumball: Ow! Uh, so yeah. Can someone please tell us how long it will take to get to Elmore High?

Alison: This bus is going to Richwood.

Gumball and Darwin: WHAT!?

Darwin: We're running out of time!

Gumball: We're gonna have to jump off the bus. In three, two–

[The bus doors open.]

Gumball: Whohohohohokay. So how bad would it really be if we got expelled from school?

Darwin: Well, we will probably never get a job, slowly drift away from society, live in the sewers, eat toxic waste, mutate and end up in a freak show with fingers instead of teeth.

Gumball: Can someone push us off the bus, please?

Alison: With pleasure.

Darwin: Wait!

[He pushes a button which makes the bus stop.]

Darwin: See? Not everything has to end in some mad stunt.

Gumball: Okay. [To Crocodile Woman] Now, you can push us off.

Alison: With pleasure.

[Gumball and Darwin are pushed off the side of a bridge, slowly and painfully fall down the side of a cliff, and land at the back of a pickup truck. They end up in a pile of junk in the desert. Gumball sardonically and slowly claps for Darwin.]

Darwin: Dude, that was your idea.

Gumball: [Pinches Darwin] You don't have time for the blame game.

Darwin: You're right! We've only got three minutes to make it to school!

Gumball: Thinking about it, how did we get so far in the desert in only four seconds?

[The counter adjusts itself, and leaves them with only 2 minutes.]

Gumball: [To Darwin] You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you? You just had to mention it!

Darwin: You mentioned it!

[Gumball pinches Darwin.]

Darwin: Ah! Sorry. I know. Blame game.

Gumball: To be honest, one minute doesn't really make any sense either. I mean it would take at least a few hours–

Darwin: [Pinches Gumball and then smiles while discreetly saying:] Yes. If it only takes four minutes to get here, then it only takes one minute to get back to town.

Gumball: …Hm.

A Minute Left

[They get down, and arrive back in Elmore town with only a minute to spare.]

Gumball and Darwin: Yay! We still have one minute left to get to school!

Gumball: Wait, one minute doesn't help.

Darwin: What do we do!?

Gumball: We use the fastest way to get from one point to another.

[The scene shows Darwin running, while Gumball tries to do some parkour.]

Darwin: What are you doing?

Gumball: Parkour! It's the fastest way to get from A to B.

[They continue on their journey, and Gumball struggles to do more parkour moves. He comes across Miss Simian in her car.]

Lucy Simian: What the–

[Gumball hits her car.]

Lucy Simian: Hey! Why aren't you two at school?

[Gumball then slides through the hood and runs off.]

Lucy Simian: Ha. You're gonna be late. I've got you this time!

[Miss Simian starts her car and drives. She catches up with them easily.]

Darwin: Gumball, come on!

Lucy Simian: [Laughs] You're done for! [Drives away]

Gumball: Faster!

[Gumball and Darwin quicken their pace. With Mr. Small in their way, Darwin avoids him just in time, but Gumball does not. He hits him, and flies towards the screen, breaking it and stopping the timer at only seven seconds.]

Frozen in Time

Darwin: Gumball!

[Darwin sees Mr. Small suspended in the air, mid-fall, and other inhabitants of the town (the pigeons, Harold, Martin) all frozen. All of Elmore, the world, and the whole universe are frozen in time.]

Darwin: Um… what just happened?

Gumball: Dude. I think we just broke time!

[They snicker, and laugh.]

Gumball and Darwin: We never have to worry about time again!

[They start dancing. Gumball passes by Martin, plops Martin's ice cream on his head, and puts his dog in place of his ice cream. Gumball comes across Sal Left Thumb carrying the Hexagon Lady's bag, with Gary watching in surprise. Gumball makes it so that Gary looks like he beat up Sal Left Thumb, and Hexagon Lady looks lovestruck.]

Darwin: Dude, we're superheroes!

[Gumball puts lipstick on Gary.]

Darwin: Right. I guess we're still above average.

[Gumball pulls down Gary's pants.]

Darwin: I guess we're more like okay.

[They laugh, and hop off. The scene switches to them trying to throw candy into Pantsbully's open mouth.]

Darwin: Come on, dude.

Gumball: Alright, one last time.

[Gumball throws one last candy ball which bounces around Pantsbully's mouth. It shoots right in. As Gumball and Darwin cheer, a tooth comes out.]

Darwin: We can't leave him like that.

Gumball: Let me just…

[Gumball grabs the tooth and tries to replace it. He ends up pushing the tooth far too deep into the gums.]

Gumball: Uh, hold on. I'll just try to dislodge it.

[Gumball slaps Pantsbully's back repeatedly, until he falls. His mouth gets stuck on a fire hydrant.]

Gumball: Oh. Hold on.

[He pulls Pantsbully's arm, but accidentally pulls it off.]

Darwin: Maybe it's best just to leave him at that, and apologize.

[Gumball puts the arm back and leaves a note with "sorry" on it. They leave and go to Ripley 2000.]

Darwin: Wait, dude. It's my turn!

Gumball: What're you gonna do?

[Darwin sticks his nose on the finger of a sign and laughs.]

Gumball: Darwin, that sign's always frozen. You could do that anytime.

Darwin: Oh yeah? Well, what would you suggest?

Gumball: How about we go read Captain Punch without getting thrown out of the store?

[They dance their way in, and Gumball takes a comic. He opens it immediately, causing it to burst into flames. He and Darwin scream, and he throws it down the floor.]

Gumball: What the what happened!?

Darwin: Dude, we're frozen in time. Think how fast you just turned that page.

Gumball: Right. You know what's not flammable?

Darwin: Yup. Rocks, water, air, teeth, aluminum, dirt–

Gumball: I was sort of hoping you would say "no, what?" so I could say "video games!"

Darwin: Oh, sorry. No, what?

[Gumball inhales to speak.]

Darwin: Video games!

Gumball: Forget it!

[Gumball tries to turn on a computer monitor.]

Darwin: I think we're actually faster than electricity.

Gumball: What does that mean?

Darwin: It means no TV, no video games, no internet!

Gumball: We have to start that clock again!

Darwin: Wait! That only gives us seven seconds to get back to class!

Gumball: [Sighs] I thought I'd never say this, but we have to get back to school!

Time Traveling

[They arrive at Elmore Junior High, and enter their classroom.]

Gumball: Okay. We just have to set the clock back to zero, and everything will be fine. Spin it!

[Darwin starts the timer but accidentally spins it too far. They arrive somewhere in the far future, amongst a pile of wreckage with an expanded sun.]

Gumball: Uh, dude, I think you spun it too far.

[The sun explodes.]

Gumball: Uh, let's go back a little.

[Gumball spins the timer back in time but inadvertently sends them to the big bang. While holding their breath, Gumball is nodded at by Darwin to spin the timer again. In prehistoric Earth, an ape climbs up a high point of a cliff and strives to stand up on only two legs. As it is cheered on by other apes, Gumball and Darwin appear at the tip of the point, knocking down the ape and scaring it away.]

Gumball: What's his problem?

Darwin: Spin it again.

[They travel to the present.]

Gumball: Aaand stop!

[He stops the timer on zero as the school bell rings.]

Darwin: Oh. We're early!

[Their classmates walk in on all fours.]

Anton: So, did you do your homework?

Tobias​​​: Nah. I can't be bothered writing with my mouth.

[Gumball and Darwin are shocked.]

Gumball and Darwin: The monkey.

[Darwin brings them back to the monkey, just before it stands upright. They hide behind the cliff point.]

Gumball: Okay. We're about to appear. We have to stop ourselves from pushing that monkey.

[They rush to the tip, and push away duplicates of themselves off the cliff just as they appear.]

Gumball: Ah! We didn't think this through! If our past selves get iced, it means our now selves will never exist!

Darwin: What does that mean?

Gumball: It means we'll disappear into nothingness.

[The duplicates fly back up, and land near the original duo.]

Gumball: Uh, how did that happen?

[A third pair of duplicates emerges from the cliff point's side.]

Gumball 3: We just put a trampoline at the bottom of the cliff.

Gumball: Aw. Why didn't I think of that?

[A fourth pair emerges.]

Darwin 4: But you did.

Gumball 4: Just not the first time.

[Another pair appears with wounds.]

Gumball 5: [Hurt] Yeah. First we built a mattress with whatever was around.

Gumball 4: What's wrong with that?

Gumball 5: There's only rocks around here.

[A sixth pair appears with food and drinks.]

Gumball 5: What're you guys doing here?

Gumball 6: We're here to watch the fight.

Gumball 4: What fight?

Gumball 5: The one about who gets to go back to the present.

[All but the sixth duo blink and start fighting. The latter duo laughs, and goes back to the present. However, they find that their classmates have become evolved versions of themselves. Gumball brings them back to the past.]

Gumball: Hey, stop it! None of you should be here anyway. It's a time paradox.

[He brings them to an alternate timeline where they are at the top of a temple, being worshiped. A crowd gasps.]

Sarah: The saviors have returned!

Tobias​​​: The prophecy was true!

[The crowd cheers.]

Gumball: What do you know? We're deities.

[They bask in the crowd's praises.]

Sarah: Thank you!

Tobias​​​: Thank you!

Girl: Thank you so much!

Gumball: Uh… thank you for what?

Lucy Simian: [Emerges] For your sacrifice!

[Gumball and Darwin frantically spin the timer. They later appear in another alternate timeline where everyone is obese. Among their several attempts to fix the past, they come across timelines where their classmates speak German, where they have two heads, where everyone is large, upside down, and where they have tongues with mouths and no pupils. They finally arrive at a seemingly normal timeline.]